Hartland couple closing last Big Boy in Livingston County after 41 years. Here's why

HARTLAND TWP. — After decades of running the local Big Boy restaurant, a Hartland Township couple is ready to retire. Hartland Big Boy will close after Memorial Day, owners Nick and Jean Shaieb have announced.

The location, at 10587 Highland Road/M-59 in the township, is the last remaining Big Boy in Livingston County.

"In order to run a good restaurant, you have to work it hard and we did," Nick Shaieb said Friday. "We were here everyday. We were the operators."

Shaieb, 68, said being out in the dining room with customers has been his place.

"I’ve always had a good rapport with the customers," he said. "I like to go table to table and pour coffee and talk to them."

The Shaiebs posted a lengthy message to their customers on social media earlier this week announcing the move.

"After 41 incredible years of serving our cherished Hartland community, it is with heavy hearts that we announce the closing of our beloved restaurant," they wrote in part Tuesday, May 23, from the restaurant's Facebook account. "The time has come for us to bid farewell to the place that has been our second home, where countless memories were made and laughter filled the air."

The restaurant has been busy since, with customers coming in to get their final Big Boy fix.

"Everybody in the community has come out in the last few days. We're overwhelmed. It's ironic, because that is part of the reason I need to get out was I can't handle those busy, busy days, and that's all I have done in the end," Shaieb said.

Busy or not, he said he and his wife are "grateful."

Nick Shaieb's cousin and her husband, JoAnn and George Henney, built the restaurant. The Henneys were already proprietors of a Big Boy in Waterford. Shaieb started running the Hartland Big Boy in 1982, shortly after it was constructed, and has continued to operate it for the last 41 years.

"I've been here since," he said.

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He was already working for Big Boy when Elias Brothers, which later bought the company, was a large franchise owner.

"I was with the Elias brothers in '76 and managed the suites at the Silverdome," among other jobs with Big Boy, Shaieb said. "I ended up in research and development."

While there is a potential plan in the works for the space, Shaieb said it is too soon to release details. He said the storefront will not be a Big Boy. The Shaiebs plan to sell the Big Boy statue.

The restaurant will remain open through Memorial Day. The restaurant might close early sometime that afternoon, Shaieb said.

— Contact Livingston Daily reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com. 

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Last Big Boy in Livingston County closing after 41 years. Here's why